Instead of snow shovels, folks around northcentral Montana might want to rummage around their garages for hoses and sprinklers.
Warm temperatures Tuesday broke daily records in Great Falls and several other towns in the region, according to the National Weather Service.
The mercury climbed up to 67 degrees in Great Falls, besting the old record for Nov. 18 of 64 degrees, which was set in 1949. Cut Bank also saw a new daily record of 66 degrees, and a high temperature of 63 degrees was good enough for the record books in White Sulphur Springs.
The record-setting day was the result of a high pressure system, warm winds coming off the mountains and sunny skies in the same places at the same time, said Dave Bernhardt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"The combination brought us some very unseasonable warm temperatures," he said.
Helena and Bozeman also saw new high-temperature daily records of 71 degrees and 68 degrees, respectively. This is the latest in the year that Helena has hit a temperature above 70 degrees since the National Weather Service started keeping track in 1880.
Warm weather this late in the year means people may want to water their outdoor plants one more time before winter sets in, said Michelle Tucker, nursery supervisor at Tilleraas Landscape and Nursery.
"Especially new plantings that they've planted this fall," she said. "If they want to go out and give them another drink of water, it would be a good idea."
Tucker advised watering trees with a hose, running at a medium flow, for 15 to 20 minutes.
At Showdown Ski Area near Monarch, where 14 inches of snow fell Thursday, Tuesday's warm temperatures didn't do much damage, said Chris Leatham, the ski area's snow sports school director.
He said he is confidant the ski area will make its opening-day target of Dec. 12.
In fact, warm weather helps the fresh snow tighten into a good, solid base to hold later powder, he said.
"We got all that snow and it turned warm and everything packed down beautifully," he said.
The warm weather probably won't stick around long as a cold front began making its way into Montana on Tuesday night. The front knocked 15 degrees off the temperature in Cut Bank in an hour, Bernhardt said.
Even with significantly cooler weather the next few days, temperatures will be about average for this time of year, he said.
To make sure trees and other plants are ready for the cooler weather, Tucker advised adding mulch around the base of the plants to help hold moisture. If it is a dry winter, she said it would be smart to water plants once more in January or February as long as the temperature is above freezing.
According to a long-term forecast by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, this winter probably will be close to the historic average for temperatures and precipitation in central Montana.
